Gary Sandberg's ballot eligibility for the 2013 Peoria municipal election probably will be decided Tuesday. Dan Adler's ballot fate already has been settled, thanks to a fatal error regarding his City Council candidacy. After it heard more than 2 1/2 hours of te...

Dan Adler's ballot fate already has been settled, thanks to a fatal error regarding his City Council candidacy.

After it heard more than 2 1/2 hours of testimony Monday, the Peoria Board of Election Commissioners did not resolve two challenges to Sandberg's attempt to run for the 1st District council seat.

The hearings are to continue at 5:30 p.m. in Room 112 at City Hall. They are open to the public, according to LaColis Reed, the chairman of the three-person commission.

"We will talk about the things that have been presented to us and things we have also pulled up for ourselves and admitted into evidence," Reed said. "At that point, we'll make a decision about which party prevails."

Reed's group is to meet about 45 minutes before at-large Councilman Sandberg and his colleagues are to gather on the fourth floor of City Hall for one of their regular sessions.

The City Council chamber was the site for three eligibility hearings Monday, capped by the commission's decision to strike Adler from the 5th District ballot for the February primary election.

Commissioners voted unanimously to uphold a complaint from Peoria attorney Robert Hanauer that stated Adler's election petitions were not notarized, which state election law requires.

But most of the morning was devoted to challenges Randall Emert and Denise Moore filed against Sandberg. The complaints and complainants, who are 1st District candidates, called into question Sandberg's residency at 1213 SW Adams St.

Emert's challenge stated Sandberg had not lived at that 1st District address long enough to qualify for the ballot. But during the hearing, Emert appeared less certain of state election codes.

"To be frank, I'm not sure there is a requirement, but I wasn't sure, so that's why I filed the objection," Emert said.

Moore's challenge is more multifaceted than Emert's. But the main difference Monday between Moore and Sandberg appeared to rest in election-code interpretation.

Moore said a one-year district residency requirement was necessary to be eligible for the ballot. Sandberg said the one-year requirement was for residency in the city, not in a particular district.

"For at-large seats, you are perfectly correct," Moore told Sandberg during cross-examination. "But not for a district."

Sandberg cited a difference between how the code addresses the council/manager form of government, which Peoria has, and the mayor/alderman form of government. Moore said the council/manager section of the code refers to the mayor/alderman section for clarification about residency, but Sandberg disagreed.

"Provisions for the aldermanic form of government don't apply," he said.

Sandberg also produced more than 20 pieces of evidence to bolster his residency case, including an envelope for a Christmas card sent to his Adams Street address.

Page 2 of 2 - In previous elections, Sandberg listed his residence as a house at 1810 N. Bigelow St., in the 2nd District. The 23-year councilman said his son and daughter purchased the Adams Street property - a two-story vacant storefront - in April for $20,000.

Sandberg said he needed room to consolidate storage for his 11 motor vehicles and three motorcycles. The Adams Street location apparently was sufficient for that, as well as for a place to live.

"I'm not kidding anyone, the second floor was not used as a residence for years," Sandberg said. "(But) it was move-in ready in many aspects.

"That's my home. That's my residence. And that's where I intend to die."

After the commission ruled against him, Adler said his 5th District campaign lives. He intends to file as a write-in candidate in a primary that has three others in the running, including incumbent Dan Irving.

"This wasn't an attempt to level the playing field," Adler said about Hanauer's objection. "This was an attempt to narrow it."

On Dec. 3, the day he filed the challenge, Hanauer said he didn't have a preferred candidate. He repeated that Monday.

"Most of the time, lawyers live in a gray area, but this is a black-and-white issue," Hanauer said. "The truth of the matter is there's no one candidate that benefits from this."

Nick Vlahos can be reached at 686-3285 or nvlahos@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @VlahosNick.